tracy



March 2 1926. I 1,575,083

M. J. TRACY COVERING BOX Filed 06T.- 5. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 2v, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE..

MICHAEL J. TRACY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO PAULY JAIL BUILDING COMPANY, F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

COVERING BOX.

Application filed October 5, 1925. Serial No. 60,515.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MrouAaL J. TRACY, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Covering Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in covering boxes for enclosures for moving mechanism, in the present instance, the operating mechanism for jail doors, as shown in the application of Bernard J. Hoppenjans filed October 22, 1925, Serial No. 64,079,V

l5 Briefly, the invention consists in a metallic covering box that may be secured over the mechanism Without resorting` to bolts or screws. In fact, the covering box is secured in such a Way that the parts :tor

holding it in place are not accessible or even available from the exterior. This is aecomplished by providing suitable lugs on the bottom edge of the coveringr box, which lugs are adapted to enter slots in a supporting member and on which the covering box is secured as oli-hinges. The lugs cooperate in holding the covering box in place with a sliding lock bar operable within the box to lock the same securely.

The objects of the invention are to provide a covering box 'for moving mechanism that cannot be removed. except by one in authority; to accomplish which object, a locking bar is provided which is operable only from the index or lever box housing the controls for the mechanism covered. A. further object is to provide a covering box that is secured in place in a manner to resist the attacks of ordinary implements such as hammers, chisels, and the like, to accomplish which object the supporting lugs ot' the covering box are made of tool-prooi steel. A further object is to provide a covering box that is simple, that may be readily removed when necessary and one that presents a pleasing appearance.

Further and otheradvantages will be better apparent from a detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a jail partition, the mechanism 'for operating the doors herein being shown `enclosed by my improved covering. box, parts of which are "5 broken away, Figurel 2 is a vertical cross section through the covering box taken on the line 2 2 of F ig. l; and Figure 3 is a vertical sectional detail through the index or lever box taken on the line 3"-3 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings, l? represents (in the present instance), a jail partition in which are the cell doors D, D which doors are operable by suitable mechanism M above the doors, said mechanism being operated from within the index or lever box B, all of which is described in detail in the application hereinabove referred to and will not, therefore, be repeated. It is important that the mechanism M be entirely enclosed or housed in order to prevent tampering therewith and also to protect the mechanism from the dust of the atmosphere. purpose, l provide a covering box formed of a plurality of sections l, the outer sections having battens l', l for covering the joint between said sections and the inner section. The box is formed in a pleasing shape and is supported over the mechanism by means of a locking slide bar 2 and a pair of lugs 3, 3 secured to the front wall a of the box so as to project beyond the bottom edge o thereof. The lugs 3, 23 are adapted to enter slots 4, 4 in the vertical wall 5 ot' a structural member G secured to a partition plate 7 forming the part oli partition P above the doors. The doors D are each provided with a pair of rollers S, 8 mounted at the upper end of hangers 9, 9 secured to the top ot the door and said rollers are adapted to operate on a rail l() ixed to the horizontal member oif an angle bar ll secured to the plate 7. The doors are operated by the said mechanism M arranged above the rollers and it is this mechanism and the rolling support 'for the doors that is to be enclosed bythe covering box l. Obviously, there are times when the mechanism must be uncovered for the purpose of eliecting repairs or lubrication and it is, therefore, necessary to provide a means for securing the covering box in place that may readily be released. This is accomplished by mounting the slide bar 2 on a spacing strip l2 secured to plate '7, the part of the slide bar 2 thus projecting above the spacing strip l2 being spaced from the plate. Secured to the plate 7 above and in spaced relation with the locking bar 2, are a series of abutment blocks 13 which, as will appear hereinafter, cooperate with the slide bar 2 to secure the upper inwardly For this turned flange lll of the covering box, and, of course, the covering box, itself', in place.

The slide bar 2 is provided with a plurality of inclined slots l5 by which the slide bar is mounted against the spacing strip 12, said slots each being traversed by a stud 16 projecting from the spacing strip 12, said stud having an enlarged head 17 for confining the slide bar in place. lhen the covering box l is locked in place, the slide bar 2 is moved to the left (F ig. 1) as far as it will go, at which time, said bar will be raised to its highest position by virtue of the slots 15 riding on the pin 16. When the bar 2 is raised, it will operate to confine the covering box flange 111- betwcenit and the plate 7 and the lugs 18. When the bar 2 is moved in the opposite direction, the bar will also move downwardly and release the flange 14. (dotted position Fig. 2) so that the upper part of the box 1 will be free to move away from the plate '7 being supported solely by the lugs 3 in the slots el.

The lower ends of the lugs 3 are so shaped, each being provided with an olfsetI at c, that when the covering box is dropped downwardly to expose the mechanism M, the extremities of the lugs 3 will engage the under surface of member 5 and will support the box in its lower position. The bottom edge b of the covering box is beveled so as to malte a tightly fitting joint with the outer face of the member 5 when the box is locked in position so that it will be extremely diflicult to insert a saw or other implement between the edge l) and the member 5 for the purpose of cutting olf the lug 3 to open the box and obtain access to the mechanism M. In order that access to the mechanism M in this manner may be made doubly diflicult, the lugs 3 are formed of tool-proof steel so that even though access may be had to the lug, it will be practically impossible to cut through the saine. The object of such precautionary measures against entering into the covering box 1 is to prevent the access to the mechanism lll by anyone not expressly authorized, as this mechanism should not be tampered with, controlling as it does the jail doors D.

rlhe slide bar 2 is operated from the index box Il, one end of said slide bar extending into the upper part of said box and having its lower edge provided with teeth t' for engagement with the teeth z5 of a sector 18 keyed to a shaft 19 mounted in brackets 20, 2O in the upper part of the box B, and a par` tition plate 21 is securely fixed within the index box beneath the sector 18. A partition wall 22 is securely fixed within said index box so as to entirely enclose the sector 18 and associated parts. rlfhe shaft 19 has an intermediate portion 19 especially shaped to receive a special tool insertable through a sot 22 in the bottom of plate 21 so that when it is necessary to remove the covering box 1, this tool (not shown) may be inserted through the slot 22 to engage the portion 19 of the shaft 19 which may then be rocked to a position for sliding the slide bar 2 in the direction to permit said bar to move downF wardly out of an engagement with the flange 14 on the upper edge of the covering box 1.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided a covering box for special mechanism that is not removable by the application of tools to ,the outside of it, and is also, otherwise secure against tampering by any one not expressly authorized to remove the same.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a wall plate, a covering box mounted thereon, said covering box having suitable lugs projecting from its lower edge and adapted to enter slots in the wall plate, an inwardly turned flange on the opposite edge of the covering plate, locking means within the covering box effective on said flange, and means outside the covering box for actuating said locking means- 2. In combination with a wall plate ,a covering box mounted thereon, said cover ing box having hinged connection along one edge with the wall plate, means within the covering box for securing said box at its opposite edge to the wall plate, and means outside the covering' box for releasing the same from the wall plate.

In combination with a wall plate, a covering box mounted thereon, said covering box having suitable lugs projecting from its lowei edge and adapted tov enter slots in the wall plate, said lugs having terminal formations adapted to operate as hinges for the covering box, means within the covering box for securing the same to the wall plate, and means outside the covering box for releasing it from the wall plate.

il. In combination with a wall plate, a covering box mounted thereon, said covering box having suitable tool-proof steel lugs projecting from its lower edge and adapted to enter slots in the wall plate, the aforesaid lower edge being adapted to make closely fittingl contact with the wall plate and the lugs having terminal form-ations adapted to operate as hinges for the covering box, means within the covering box for securing the same to the wall plate, and means outside the covering box for releasing it from the wall plate.

5. In combination with a wall plate having abutment members on its face, and slots in spaced relation below said abutment 1ne1nbers, a covering box having an inwardly turned flange on its upper edge and spaced lugs projecting from its lower edge, the upper wall of said covering box being adapted to abut against said abutment members and the lugs of said box being adapted to enter the Wall plate slots, and a slide bar below the abutment blocks, said slide bar being movable to engage the covering box flange to hold said Vbox securely in place.

6. In combination with a Wall plate, a covering box mounted thereon, said covering box having suitable lugs projecting from its lower edge and adapted to enter slots in the Wall plate, an inwardly turned flange on the opposite edge of the covering plate, locking means Within the covering box effective on said flange, an actuating device for said locking means disposed at a distance from said covering box, a casing for said actuating means, said casing having an aperture through which a suitable tool may be applied to the actuating means to operate the same.

7. In combination with a lWall plate, a covering box mounted thereon. said covering box having one edge detachably secured to said Wall plate, means within the covering box for securing said box at its opposite edge -to the Wall plate, and means outside the covering box for releasing the same from the Wall plate.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiix my signature.

MICHAEL J. TRACY. 

